Like a beacon in a storm, William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy Twelfth Night encourages us to find a light in the darkest of times. Bell Shakespeare adds their own touches to the classic play when they bring their latest production to Canberra Theatre Centre on 13-21 October.

A tale of mistaken identities, love triangles, trickery and deception, following Viola, who comes to Illyria after being shipwrecked. Believing her twin brother Sebastian drowned in the ordeal, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and takes up employment in service of Duke Orsino.

“Twelfth Night is actually one of Shakespeare’s most queer plays that he had written and our production of it around casting, we like to say that it adds more queerness to the play, if possible, having Alfie play Viola and having me play Sebastian,” says Isabel Burton.

The Duke wants to court Olivia, who is not open to any romantic pursuits as she is too busy grieving the loss of her brother until she meets Cesario and is instantly smitten. As Cesario, Viola becomes close to Duke Orsino and finds herself more and more attracted to him. 

“The depth of his expression of the human experience I think is really amazing, I guess you could say profound, some people would say it’s real and relevant. It’s funny 400 years ago these plays were written, you can take some of his themes and his characters in his stories and tell them in a more contemporary version and they’re still relevant,” Ms Burton says.

Being able to reflect on what humanity is, she says the Bard is still inspiring people today as many modern stories are based on his classics; for example, there’s a whole generation who know Romeo & Juliet because of the Baz Luhrmann production.

“Even now, I’ll be reading a Shakespearean play that I’ve never read before and I’ll see a line or phrase, or a word that I didn’t realise that he’d either been the first one to write it, or a story that I’d heard before and I realise that he was probably the first one to put it down into words on paper.”

While her first real exposure to Shakespeare was in high school with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ms Burton believes she was aware of his works before that. Her first time seeing a Shakespearean production was Bell Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

“My dad took me,” she says. “We drove from Canberra up to Sydney to catch a matinee of this production at the Opera House … There was Zahra Newman in the leading role and she’s also a woman of colour. So, I thought that was the most amazing thing I had ever seen before in life. I was like ‘Oh, my gosh, she reminds me of me, like I could do that, I want to do that’.”

Joining Bell Shakespeare last year, Ms Burton says the experience so far has been amazing, especially as an emerging actor. The tools and resources for professional development have helped her become a more resilient actor, practitioner and person.

Twelfth Night will be Ms Burton’s mainstage debut with the company; continuing her Shakespearean journey she is excited to branch out into comedy.

“I have never really been in comedies before, I’ve been much more of a dramatic type of actor, and I think this early in my career I was really excited to try something different.”

Excited to bring the production to her hometown, Ms Burton says taking the stage at the Canberra Theatre Centre is a nice full circle moment.

“I’ve seen countless productions and comedy and even circus acts there. I even had my year 12 graduation across the Canberra Theatre stage. My first ever paid gig as an actor after my actor training was in the Courtyard Studio,” she says.

Wanting audiences to walk away feeling amused by the comedy, Ms Burton also hopes they take a moment to appreciate the deeper message of the piece.

“A sense of joy out of tragedy, there is a balance within this play. Our director talks about this, where when you stay true to the darkness in the play, it helps the high moments and the joy shine even more.”

See Bell Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Canberra Theatre Centre, 13-21 October; bellshakespeare.com.au

Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily newsletter. Sign up here.